A story at wrestlinginc.com states Mauro Ranallo will be heading to NXT as part of its commentary team. It doesn't say exactly when he'll start, but it could be as early as the next set of NXT tapings scheduled for tomorrow night. Ranallo broke the announcement via Instagram:

" THE NXT CHAPTER BEGINS!
WWE and I mutually agreed to end my responsibilities on SmackDown having nothing to do with rumors about disputes. As I remained under contract with WWE, we discussed a variety of options. Despite originally agreeing to part ways, there was always a desire to continue working together. We have come to terms on a new agreement that benefits both WWE and me, and I am thrilled to announce I will now be part of the NXT broadcasting team."

I doubt there'll be a four man commentary team for NXT, so maybe this means Percy Watson returns to obscurity where he belongs.

My guess is that Mauro is more of a Triple H guy whereas JBL is obviously one of Vince's most trusted and this is a means of providing as little interaction between them as possible so a repeat of the controversy earlier this year doesn't take place. No matter who you thought was right or wrong, JBL has a reputation as a bully backstage, has had one for years, and is tight enough with Vince that he can do or say almost anything to anybody and get away with it. Regardless, JBL has noticeably toned himself down in recent months; he no longer goes into these angry sounding, pissed redneck rants towards other commentators, especially to Byron Saxton. You could also see a definite shift in JBL the latest episode of Bring it to the Table in which he, again, came off more like a pundit talking about various wrestling subjects rather than just being loud & obnoxious.

At any rate, it'll be fun to see Mauro in NXT.

__________________"What Do I Know Of Cultured Ways, The Gilt, The Craft And The Lie?
I, Who Was Born In A Naked Land And Bred In The Open Sky.
The Subtle Tongue, The Sophist Guile, They Fail When The Broadswords Sing.
Rush In And Die Dogs - I Was A Man Before I Was King."

First of all, i think this is a really nice surprise to see him back with WWE in some capacity and kinda prove that sometimes, the dirt sheets and fans tend to overreact when a situation happened like what happened early this year with Mauro.

Now i know that some peoples and even some dirt sheet writers will say that this was just a way to buy Mauro's silence, but i for one always thought that Mauro was a stand up guy and if he wanted to blow the whistle on this whole situation, he would have done it already no matter what WWe gave him in exchange. Wrestling as always been in Mauro's blood and i think him being in NXT where he's not macro manage by Vince Mcmahon will be a nice fit. Too bad that we got to have Percy Watson as the third men because i would have loved to have just a 2 man booth with Mauro and Nigel, i think it would have been awesome for the NXT product.

Mauro coming back to the WWE is great news. I've missed his commentary. None of the others seem to have the passion he has for the sport. Corey Graves might be the exception.

As far as the rumours of his backstage stuff with JBL is concerned I have to agree with Jack Hammer. JBL has been a shadow of himself the last few months. Even pairing him up with Bryan Saxton again hasn't been enough to get him going, so maybe he's been in a way spoken too.

I like this a lot. Mauro is a fantastic talent and likely WWE's best commentator at the moment. I know that's not saying much at times but it's the truth. And I don't know whether this is just me being overly cynical, but his addition to NXT only makes NXT that much better, while the productions on the main show are seemingly getting worse through these summer months. He'll be fun to listen to on NXT and I'm confident that Triple H will encourage him to be himself, which is more of a classic sports commentator rather than a WWE-type commentator, which is seemingly a different thing. They know the fans appreciate him and the response to everything that happened with JBL proves it.

Perhaps it is a shame that we won't hear him on Raw or SmackDown, but you never know when that call might come. After all, we've heard rumours for months that Michael Cole wants out of his Raw commentary role. Whether that's true or not, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mauro return to the main roster at some point, even if it's just for special appearances. I'm glad he's back.

Great news. Mauro is a brilliant commentator and it was a shame to see him leave WWE like he did. I'm delighted to see that he's back and hopefully whatever health issues he had have passed and he's back to 100%. I loved his work on the main roster and especially enjoyed his commentary during the Cruiserweight Classic, so him coming back is fantastic for NXT!

I'm too happy about it as he's the best in commentary. He always makes me interested in any match with his knowledge and that's why I love him. Welcome back, Mauro. I'm sure that Triple H knows better to handle a talented person like you.

It's nice to have someone who actually commentates on actual sports outside the realm of sports entertainment around. Really a waste of talent to fire him off the main roster, but I'd be upset to if he was trying to call actual moves and implying my talent are anything outside of super stars. Glad he is in NXT with a bunch of people out of their prime rehashing matches that already happened. Oh well. Glad he gets to commentate some sports entertainment. When you're calling Mayweather vs McGregor it really doesn't matter what the WWE thinks of you as not only a commentator, but a person.

Honestly, I'm not a fan at all. Firstly because of his actual work as a commentator with his over enunciating and lame catch phrases. But totally separate of that because of all the drama surrounding him with his bullying, mental health issues/subsequent internet cry baby routine that was giving him daily headlines on here for months after he left the company, which came after skipping out on work for weeks.

I just really don't see what people see in him. He's one of those guys that came in with such an IWC love fest, that he was practically the Daniel Bryan of commentators. I wanted to like him, but it just isn't happening for me. I know that people seem fond of the fact that he actually calls matches, but so could JR except without all the baggage.

This is great. I was very glad to see Mauro Ranallo return to commentary. He was my favorite person on the commentary team in a long time and thought he was never coming back. Granted I would rather him be back on Smackdown again, although this is the next best thing. NXT will be a great for him and I think he along with Nigel will make a good team. Mauro has a commmentary style that fits well with the NXT product. Having Mauro there for the Last Woman Standing match between Cross and Asuka made that match all the better. Looking forward to Mauro becoming the new voice of NXT as that brand moves forward!